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D5 - Letter of 30 December 1944 on Kaltenbrunner's proposal to Himmler to kill with carbon monoxide
Contemporary Source

1944-12-30 Kaltenbrunner’s Execution Proposal to Himmler: “Carbon Monoxide Introduced Via an Apparatus Operated From the Driver’s Seat”

After the shooting of Generalleutnant Fritz von Brodowski while in Allied captivity on 28 October 1944, the Nazis retaliated by executing French Major General Gustave Mesny “while attempting to escape” on 19 January 1945. In a letter dated 30 December 1944, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, chief of the Security Police, officially proposed to Himmler also the option that “carbon monoxide be introduced into the sealed rear compartment of the vehicle via an apparatus operated from the driver’s seat”.

Letter by Himmler of September 18, 1941 on the deportation of German Jews to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto
Contemporary Source

1941-09-18 Clearing the Reich: Himmler’s Order for the Deportation of 60,000 German Jews to the Litzmannstadt (Łódź) Ghetto

On September 18, 1941, Heinrich Himmler sent a letter to Arthur Greiser, Gauleiter of the Warthegau, conveying Hitler’s request that the Old Reich and the Protectorate be “cleared and freed from Jews from west to east as soon as possible.” In line with this policy, Himmler ordered the deportation of 60,000 Jews from the Old Reich to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto in occupied Poland.

Order of July 19, 1942
Contemporary Source

1942-07-19 Himmler’s Order for the Complete “Resettlement” of Jews in the General Government

On July 19, 1942, Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer of the SS, issued a directive ordering the complete “resettlement of the entire Jewish population of the General Government” to be carried out by December 31, 1942. The order specified that no persons of Jewish origin were to remain in the area after this date, except those confined in designated “collection camps” located in Warsaw, Krakow, Częstochowa, Radom, or Lublin. Himmler emphasized that this action was “in the interest of the security and cleanliness of the German Reich and its spheres of interest.”

Contemporary Source

1945-01-26 The Inspector of the Security Police and SD Düsseldorf on “Special Treatment” of Foreign Workers: “Discreetly, Including by Shooting”

In a directive dated January 26, 1945, SS-Standartenführer Walter Albath, Inspector of the Security Police and SD in Düsseldorf, issued orders to the Secret State Police Offices concerning the “special treatment” of foreign workers in Wehrkreis VI. Albath instructed that “requests for special treatment in a concentration camp should no longer be submitted” and authorized the State Police Offices to carry out such measures “discreetly, including by shooting.”

Service diary entry of December 18, 1941 on Hitler Jewish Question to be exterminated as partisans
Contemporary Source

1941-12-18 Himmler’s Notes from Hitler’s HQ: “Jewish Question | To Be Exterminated as Partisans”

On December 18, 1941, Heinrich Himmler recorded a meeting with Adolf Hitler at the Führerhauptquartier (Wolfsschanze) in his Diensttagebuch (service diary). The brief entry reads: “Jewish Question. | To be exterminated as partisans.” The date marks a critical moment in the evolution of Nazi policy toward European Jews. Just days earlier, Hitler had announced the decision to physically exterminate the Jewish population within the Nazi sphere of influence. The phrase “To be exterminated as partisans” noted by Himmler reflects an attempt to frame the genocide as a necessary wartime measure against alleged enemies and subversive elements. The general accusation was intended to justify collective destruction.

Contemporary Source

1943-06-16 “Extermination of State Enemies”: Gestapo Proposes Sonderkommando Kulmhof Operating Chełmno Extermination Camp for War Merit Cross

Proposal for the Award of the War Merit Cross II Class with Swords by the Gestapo Headquarters in Posen, dated June 16, 1943. This document lists four members of Sonderkommando Kulmhof operating Chełmno extermination camp – Herbert Hiecke-Richter, Walter Burmeister, and gas van drivers Oskar Hering and Gustav Laabs – who were involved in the “direct combat and extermination of state enemies.” Their actions are described as requiring “a particularly manly and strong mental attitude” in service of “solving one of the most critical racial issues”.

Protocol of August 1, 1941 on Jews liquidated by Lithuanian collaborators.
Contemporary Source

1941-08-01 Nazi High-Level Meeting on Occupied Eastern Europe: 10,000 Jews liquidated in Lithuania

On August 1, 1941, Reich Minister Alfred Rosenberg led a high-level meeting to discuss the governance of Nazi-occupied territories in Eastern Europe. Hinrich Lohse, the Reichskommissar for Ostland and Gauleiter of Schleswig-Holstein, reported that “approximately 10,000 Jews had been liquidated by the Lithuanian population”. Lohse emphasized that, following Hitler’s directive, “the Jews should be completely removed from this area”.

Contemporary Source

1942-09-30 Poison and Human Soap – SS Investigator Interrogates Member of Sonderkommando Dirlewanger

Interrogation report dated September 30, 1942, documenting the questioning of SS-Oberscharführer Heinrich Feiertag by an SS court officer regarding allegations against Oskar Dirlewanger, infamous leader of the “Sonderkommando Dirlewanger”, known for its brutality on the Eastern Front. In his testimony, Feiertag acknowledged “hearing rumors about the poisoning of Jews with strychnine”. When confronted with accusations that he was involved in producing soap from human fat, he dismissed them as “slander spoken against me” and stated, “I only shot one Jew, so I would have been lacking material of this origin”.

Report of May 14, 1943 on Nazi Fears of Vatican Leak
Contemporary Source

1943-05-14 Nazi Fears of a Vatican Leak: Schellenberg Reports British Plans to Publicize Atrocities in Poland

In May 1943, Walter Schellenberg, head of RSHA Office VI (Ausland – SD-Ausland), informed the German Foreign Office of Britain’s plan to publish a “White Paper on the alleged German atrocities against Jews and Catholics in Poland.” The Nazis feared that the Vatican might supply the British with supporting evidence that leaked “during a visit by an Italian group to Russia, material relating to this matter could have made its way to Italy”.

Record of May 5, 1944
Contemporary Source

1944-05-05 The Feldscher Aktion Reveals the Decimation of Jewish Children in the Nazi-occupied East

The Feldscher Aktion, named after Swiss diplomat Peter Anton Feldscher, represented a significant diplomatic effort by the British government during World War II to secure the emigration of 5,000 Jewish individuals, primarily children, from Nazi-controlled territories. In a memo dated May 5, 1944, Eberhard von Thadden, the Jewish Affairs Referent of the German Foreign Office, noted that “the Reich Security Main Office confidentially communicated that the 5,000 Jewish children eligible for emigration were now only available in the Litzmannstadt ghetto. However, this ghetto would soon be dissolved by order of the Reichsführer-SS.”

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